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In these times when we all have to tighten our belts and make every penny count, Highlands in Gidea Park, Romford, offers homeowners keen to downsize from a family home to a retirement apartment some impressive savings on essentials like heating, lighting and building maintenance.
In fact, compared to a typical four bedroom family home in Gidea Park, living in a luxurious retirement apartment complete with its energy efficient and environmentally friendly features at Highlands means a saving of £2,482 in running costs per year – that’s a whopping 38.5% saving.
“Highlands gives people whose children no longer live at home the opportunity to cut the costs of everyday expenses,” says David Sparks, managing director of Great Homes Limited, the award-winning company behind Highlands. “Running a family home can be exhausting on the purse, but a move to Highlands will mean more money in the bank, plus a brand new independent lifestyle for people nearing or in retirement.”
Highlands is a collection of high specification one and two bedroom apartments in a building with top notch features such as an interior designed residents’ lounge, library, landscaped gardens and state-of-the-art safety and security features. Importantly, what Highlands also offers is a design that complies with the Code for Sustainable Homes standard, meaning that integral systems are in place to generate warmth, reduced water consumption and power common areas through cells that capture energy from the sun. The result is an impressive set of low costs for residents.
For example, typically the annual cost of living at Highlands equates to £3,958, compared to £6,440 for a four bedroom house in the same area. This figures includes £36 for lighting (house = £139), £146 for heating (house = £1,284), hot water £71 (house = £157) and £1,235 council tax (house = £2,142). In addition, the costs include water and sewage charges, building insurance and maintenance costs such as window cleaning, gardening and decorations. All figures are taken from actual figures, including in the case of energy costs from Energy Performance Certificates.
For Highlands the figure also includes ground rent and a management charge for the house manager, communal furniture, lift and emergency features. The only additional costs for residents would be personal electricity and contents insurance. Highlands is all about living independently, in comfort and with complete peace of mind, so knowing annual costs in advance means residents can plan ahead. Add to this savings of 38.5% and it is easy to see why many people have already made Highlands their home.
Highlands is an attractive building that echoes the Arts and Crafts architectural styling of its neighbouring properties in Main Road, Gidea Park in Romford. It is close to local shops and services, and is served by a good road and rail infrastructure that makes it easy for residents to travel to nearby towns like Upminster, Hornchurch and Brentwood to see family, and even to London for a day out.
There are 23 apartments over three floors, each carefully designed to provide a practical yet easy to use layout. Extra wide hallways lead to high specification kitchens with wood ‘peach skin’ finishes and an array of Bosch appliances, including a washer/dryer, fridge and freezer, oven, microwave, hob and extractor. Bathrooms, too, have elegant suites, complete with vanity furniture. All the apartments benefit from having both a bath and a separate shower.
Highlands is a great place to make friends. Its residents, all aged 60 years and over, can meet and mix with neighbours in the elegant gold and cream-themed lounge and library should they wish, which was designed by local interior designer Sarah Nicholson. It overlooks the garden and is bright with lots of natural light. Residents can keep in touch via a free internal telephone system too.
Security features are unobtrusive yet offer comfort. There’s a house manager that ensures the building runs like clockwork and 24-hour emergency support at the push of a button. A CCTV entryphone system is fitted at the entrance door so that visitors can be seen before being allowed entry to the building, plus there’s alarms to the ground floor apartments and electric gates to the driveway. It all makes for a safe, secure and comfortable environment.
Highlands, which just a few weeks ago was named one of the best retirement developments in Essex in the Daily Mail UK Property Awards 2008, now offers fabulous savings. For further information visit the show suite which is open every Friday to Monday from 10am to 5pm, contact sales agent Porter Glenny on 01708 725000 or visit Great Homes Limited’s website www.greathomes.co.uk. |
